2. Maelstrom

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.  This day will change the life of all those involved forever. Search and rescue pilot George Marrett shares his first-hand view of what happened as well as a poignant testimony of the ties that bind brothers in arms.

Capt Victor Smith and 1st Lt. James Fegan have been shot-down over Tchepone, a dreaded place that was the graveyard of many US pilots and crews.  Smith was killed and Fegan is alive with 2 broken arms and a broken leg.  The search and rescue forces are about to face the fire and fury of Tchepone.

We dive into one of the harriest missions of the Vietnam Air War.  It starts with a high-speed ejection near the Ho Chi Minh trail.  Retired Navy Captain and war hero Jack ‘Fingers’ Ensch takes us through his high speed ejection and subsequent capture by the North Vietnamese Army.

The shit has hit the fan.  Multiple pilots are down.  Search and rescue forces are stretched to the max. Fegan is still alive on the ground despite spending the night in jungle of Tchepone with grave injuries. SAR is getting hosed by deadly fire, but they won’t give up on the men on the ground.

Decorated veteran and best-selling author Ed Colbeigh shares the dangers of flying fighters at night over Laos.  Killer flight of 3 finally makes it to the target.  The fire and fury above the target reminds Col Graves of Edger Allen Poe’s chilling account of ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom’.

Season 1 kicks off with a hairy night mission over the border of North Vietnam and Laos.  Retired fighter pilot, Luke Graves (aka ‘Cool Hand Luke’) takes us into the terrifying world of night combat in the Vietnam War.

Hairy is a podcast about scary real-life stories told by people who lived them. The first series is about pilots in the Vietnam War.